Resolutions Approved at the 2008 Business Session of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches

 

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1) We reaffirm the Continuing Resolutions passed by previous conferences of the FGBC:

1) Sanctity of Human Life (1982 and 1996)

2) Religious Freedom (1987)

3) Personal Commitment (1988)

4) Homosexuality (2000)

 

2) Same-Sex Marriage and the "Definition of Marriage"

We affirm that the Christian view of marriage is summarized in the two-fold teaching of Jesus: (1) "At the beginning of creation God made them male and female" and (2) "A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh" (Mark 10:6-8 NIV). While marriage is a civil contract, more fundamentally it is a covenant relationship rooted in God's creation-order.

Since marriage is first and foremost a religious rather than a secular or legal concept, it is impossible to separate marriage from some kind of religious foundation. Any definition of marriage, therefore, unavoidably makes religious assumptions.

If a government is going to "define" marriage, we believe it should be defined as a "one-woman, one-man life-long covenant."

We oppose all definitions of marriage contrary to this, and urge our churches and members of our churches to be actively engaged in any "definition of marriage" effort (such as legislative action or a vote of the people) from a biblical standpoint.

 

3) Home Schooling

The home schooling of children is a right, not a state-granted privilege. It arises from the rights and responsibilities of parenting and (in many cases) from freedom of religion.

Home schooling should not be opposed by the political and educational establishments. Instead, the right of parents to choose this option should be supported. While reasonable expectations from home schooling are appropriate, we oppose efforts to control or regulate or even ban the practice of home schooling.

 

4) The "Jeremiah Principle"

We commit ourselves to "seek the peace of the city" where God has placed us and to "pray to the Lord for it" (Jeremiah 29:7).

Jeremiah's word was spoken by the God of Israel to his children exiled in Babylon. Fitting applications of this word should be made to God's church scattered throughout the world (I Peter 1:1). God required the captives to be involved in the culture where they were located, not to be disengaged from it. God warned them to avoid teachers of prophecy whose words would lead to cultural withdrawal.

We encourage our churches and their members to active community participation in whatever is wholesome and to prophetic proclamation against whatever is evil. We recommend that our churches actively and intentionally look for ways to influence, serve and benefit their communities. We encourage our members to fulfill strongly their roles as citizens of their country, including but not limited to voting, petitioning government, serving on juries, and educating themselves on social issues.

 

5) Religious Liberty

We support the freedom of all people to confess, propagate, and convert others to their faith, and to practice the dictates of their religiously-formed consciences. Only a compelling state interest should overrule a religious practice, and then only when the most narrowly-tailored restriction of religious freedom is applied.

We point out that secular assumptions of reality and requirements of behavior can become just as much an "establishment of religion" as religious assumptions and requirements can be, and can lead to coercion of faith-formed consciences.

We are concerned that the move to same-sex marriage can (and, indeed, has) led to coercion of people whose faith-formed consciences cannot accept this practice. The laws and governmental policies of our land must protect, not coerce, these people.

We contend that unpopular, politically-incorrect and minority religious beliefs and practices should be as protected as are mainstream beliefs and practices. Indeed, unpopular beliefs and practices, such as those of Evangelical Christians, are those most likely to be wrongly curtailed by the state.

 

6) God's Creation

Like those who do not profess our faith, Christians will often be divided on specific environmental issues and policies. This reality, however, should not distract us from the fundamental truth, "I believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth" and its implications for care of God's creation.

God's creation mandate calls on us to be caretakers and stewards (not owners) of his creation. The Bible contains many principles and examples on the care of creation (living beings and non-living things). Jesus, after multiplying the loaves and fish and feeding the multitude, instructed his disciples to gather up what remained so that nothing would be wasted (John 6:1-15).

God's creation must not become a "god" (or "goddess") either by worship, by treating it as a living being or by treating its resources as if they are infinite. As we sing "This Is My Father's World," Christians should, by virtue of our doctrine of creation, be automatically concerned about all that carelessly blemishes its beauty and hinders subsequent generations from benefiting from its abundance even as we enjoy the beneficence God provides to us through it (Acts 14:17).

 

7) Prayer for Peace and for All in Authority

Scripture obligates us to be in prayer for authorities at all levels so that peace might be more prevalent and mission work might go unimpeded (I Timothy 2:1-4). Until the day of God's perfect kingdom, we labor for and support noble human efforts toward peace.

We especially should be prayerful over the continued conflicts in the Middle East, that God through his human authorities might bring a just and genuine spirit of peace to this troubled region. We express serious concern over the ongoing threat posed by Muslim terrorism to that region and elsewhere in the world.

 

8) This Election Year

We urge all our members to be good citizens by studying the issues and candidates and by voting in the November elections. We encourage voter registration at our places of worship. We accept our responsibility for our churches to be an important source of accurate information and sound guidance on issues of biblical moral concern. For both spiritual and legal reasons, we reject any efforts to get churches involved in supporting or opposing candidates or in issues that are largely unrelated to biblical ethical concerns.

Finally, we will strive to heed Micah's word (Micah 6:8) on what the Lord requires: "to act justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with your God."